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The Search Marketing Advisor Newsletter Article:
July 2007, Volume 6, Issue 7

search engine marketing

Search Marketing Firm Selection: 8 Critical Factors — Part 1

by Paul Wilson, Vice President, iProspect

As search marketing has evolved over the years—from its infancy in the mid-90’s where a couple of rankings in AltaVista or HotBot returned ample sales leads, to a world in which user-generated content must be a part of every search campaign—it has become a potent marketing channel. As such, selecting a search marketing vendor has become a crucial decision with far-reaching implications and the ability to greatly affect your company’s success.

Given the importance of this decision, it’s understandable that when I meet with potential clients—many of whom are frustrated because they are looking for their second, and sometimes even third, search marketing partner—they often ask about the most important factors to consider when selecting the right search marketing partner. But like any other important business decision, selecting a search marketing partner requires due diligence.

In Part 1 of this piece, we’ll address the first four critical factors marketers should consider during the selection process:
  1. Experienced Senior Management

    2. A seasoned and tenured management team is vital to client success. As you interview potential search partners, be sure to get a handle on how long the management team has been in place. Has it been six months or six years? This is a key consideration as a tenured team is best suited to evaluate continually evolving search strategies. In short, they know what works and what doesn’t. Moreover, management’s track record will also give you a sense of the company’s stability and overall employee satisfaction.

  2. Thought Leadership

    3. Without a doubt, industries are shaped by thought leaders who continually push forward for the betterment of the whole. As you speak with potential search marketing partners, learn about their involvement in the industry. Is the firm considered a thought leader by the industry or the major search engines? Does senior management write for industry publications? Do they speak at industry events? Ultimately, thought leadership is important consideration, and it goes a long way to ensuring the success of your campaign. After all, would you rather align your company with a firm that is trailing the pack, or with one in the vanguard, helping to shape the future?

  3. Proactive Approach

    4. Search engine marketing is a strategic and iterative endeavor that requires both innovative thinking and a proactive approach. Yet time and again, I hear potential clients speak about the inability of prior partners to generate new campaign ideas and strategies on their own, without being pushed by the client to do so. When interviewing search marketing firms, be sure to ask them to cite examples that specifically demonstrate their proactive approach.

  4. Reputation & Third-Party Validation

    5. Every search engine marketing firm claims to be the best, but what do independent, third-party authorities have to say about them? As you strive to find the right vendor, take the time to review assessments by industry analysts such as Forrester and JupiterResearch. Their search engine marketing reports will provide you with great insight into today’s leading search engine marketing firms.
While there are many factors to consider when selecting a search marketing firm, the above four should aid your due diligence efforts, setting you on the right path. In next month’s Part 2 of this piece, I’ll cover four more critical factors which will allow you to narrow down your list further. Then you can focus your time on discussing search strategies and ideas with qualified search marketing partners.

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